NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli's consistent performances across all formats of the game have set him apart from his peers. His ability to adapt to different playing conditions and his hunger for runs have made him a formidable opponent for any bowling attack.
However, there is always someone who nurtures young talent and according to the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, MS Dhoni played an important role in Kohli's transformation into a modern-day great.
“When Virat Kohli started his career, it was a career in stages. The fact that MS Dhoni gave him that little extra push is why he is the Kohli we see today,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Gavaskar and Kohli were involved in a war of words when the former batter criticized him for his slow batting in the IPL.
“If you have a strike rate of 118, you face the first ball and then you get out in the 14th or 15th over and your strike rate is 118 – if you want applause for that then it's a bit different, ” Gavaskar had said.
Kohli also responded to the criticism saying, “Not really, all the people who talk about strike rate and me not playing spin well are the ones who talk about this stuff. For me it's about win games for the team and there's a reason why you've been doing this for 15 years, you've done it day in and day out, you've won games for your teams, I'm not sure if you don't haven't been in this situation yourself, sit down and talk about the game in the box To me, people can talk about their assumptions day in and day out, but those who have done it day in and day out know what's going on. and it's kind of muscle memory for me now.”
Gavaskar feels that such comments are a direct insult to the knowledge of former cricketers who work as pundits.
“All these guys say, 'oh, we don't care about outside noise'. Accha! So why do you respond to outside noise or whatever. We all played a little cricket, not a lot. We” We don't have agendas. We talk about what we see. We don’t necessarily have likes and dislikes, even though we have likes and dislikes, we actually talk about what’s going on,” Gavaskar said.
However, there is always someone who nurtures young talent and according to the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, MS Dhoni played an important role in Kohli's transformation into a modern-day great.
“When Virat Kohli started his career, it was a career in stages. The fact that MS Dhoni gave him that little extra push is why he is the Kohli we see today,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Gavaskar and Kohli were involved in a war of words when the former batter criticized him for his slow batting in the IPL.
“If you have a strike rate of 118, you face the first ball and then you get out in the 14th or 15th over and your strike rate is 118 – if you want applause for that then it's a bit different, ” Gavaskar had said.
Kohli also responded to the criticism saying, “Not really, all the people who talk about strike rate and me not playing spin well are the ones who talk about this stuff. For me it's about win games for the team and there's a reason why you've been doing this for 15 years, you've done it day in and day out, you've won games for your teams, I'm not sure if you don't haven't been in this situation yourself, sit down and talk about the game in the box To me, people can talk about their assumptions day in and day out, but those who have done it day in and day out know what's going on. and it's kind of muscle memory for me now.”
Gavaskar feels that such comments are a direct insult to the knowledge of former cricketers who work as pundits.
“All these guys say, 'oh, we don't care about outside noise'. Accha! So why do you respond to outside noise or whatever. We all played a little cricket, not a lot. We” We don't have agendas. We talk about what we see. We don’t necessarily have likes and dislikes, even though we have likes and dislikes, we actually talk about what’s going on,” Gavaskar said.